Final answer:
Fragmentary or motivic melodies contribute variety and interest to musical compositions by using short, varied motifs. These motifs can evolve to create rhythmic complexity and dynamic harmonious melodies, and have played a significant role in the history of music from Renaissance modal characteristics to modern tonality.
Step-by-step explanation:
Fragmentary or motivic melodies offer variety in musical composition by using short musical ideas or motifs. These motifs can be developed and varied throughout a piece, keeping the melody fresh and engaging. Unlike melodies that rely on full, contiguous phrases, motivic melodies enable composers to introduce elements of surprise and innovation through fragmentation and variation. This technique is seen across various genres, contributing to the uniqueness of musical styles and giving each type of music its identity.
In contrast to simple repetition or uniform harmony, motivic development often involves transformation and recombination of the initial motif, which can introduce complexity in rhythm and harmonious melodies that evolve over time. For example, a motif might be inverted, retrograded, or expanded to create new, related material that keeps the musical narrative interesting and dynamic.
The change in modal characteristics from Renaissance music to more tonal compositions showed an evolution in the use of these motivic structures. The increased use of movement in fifths paved the way for our understanding of functional harmony in later musical periods, demonstrating how motifs evolved in complexity and expressive capability.